About Us

Who We Are

The Mallarmé Chamber Players are a flexible ensemble of professional musicians based in Durham, North Carolina, whose mission is to enrich the lives of the community through outstanding chamber music performance. The ensemble distinguishes itself in the community by its innovative educational programs, its commitment to creative collaboration with other organizations, its creation of significant new work and its dedication to serve a diverse population.

Created in 1984 by musicians Jane Hawkins and Anna Ludwig Wilson working with poet and arts administrator Margaret DeMott, the ensemble’s name comes from Stéphane Mallarmé, the 19th-century French poet and philosopher who believed that true art is created through a unity of music, dance, literature and the visual arts. In keeping with their namesake, Mallarmé performances are often interdisciplinary and have been praised by critics and audiences as innovative, eclectic and of the highest artistic quality.

With the most gifted artists from North Carolina Mallarmé Chamber Players perform programs that include rarely heard works from the traditional chamber music repertoire that celebrate the diversity in our community by featuring the music of African American, Asian, Latino and women composers. Mallarmé has commissioned over 35 new works by American composers. They have created new contours in the landscape of chamber music through partnerships with artists of many different disciplines. Through their eclectic education programs they have developed a new model for community-based arts organizations.

For Mallarmé’s 25th anniversary season in 2008-09, Suzanne Rousso, violist and former orchestra administrator, took the helm as the new artistic director of the ensemble. 2019-20 is Mallarmé’s 36th year!

2019-20 Board of Directors and Staff

Nancy Clapp-Channing, co-chair
Florence Nash, co-chair
Ruth Cox
Kim Demery
Celia Dickerson, treasurer
Michael Fisher
Jeanetta Hopkins
Jacqueline Nappi, secretary
Tony Sprinkle
Baron Tymas
Suzanne Rousso, artistic director, suzanne at mallarmemusic.org
Mickaella Guarascio, operations manager, mickaella at mallarmemusic.org

Featured Artist

Jaap Ter Linden

Baroque Cello/Viola Da Gama/Conductor

As one of the first early music specialists, Jaap ter Linden witnessed the very beginnings of many of the oldest and finest baroque ensembles as co-founder of Musica da Camera and principal cellist of Musica Antiqua Köln, The English Concert and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. From these auspicious beginnings, he moved further into the spotlight, either playing solo concerts and intimate ensemble repertoire with the world’s finest interpreters or at the helm of an orchestra as conductor.

Read Full Bio

He founded and directs the Mozart Akademie (with which he has recorded the complete Mozart symphonies) and is a regular guest director and soloist with the Arion Ensemble (Canada). He has led many period instrument orchestras such as Philharmonia Baroque (San Francisco), Portland Baroque and Amsterdam Bach Soloists, and has lent his expertise to modern ensembles such as the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie.

His extensive discography as player and conductor boasts many award-winning recordings for labels such as Harmonia Mundi, Archiv, ECM, Deutsche Grammophon and more recently Brilliant Classics. In 2006, Jaap released his second recording of the Bach Cello Suites.

Most recently, Jaap has dived into the world of opera, conducting Purcell’s King Arthur with the Städtische Bühne Münster and Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide with the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. With pianist David Breitman, he recorded the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven in 2013.